Letter: Column's assertions an example of why America has the problem it does

Oct. 10, 2013

Erin Stephenson’s column on the government shutdown (Oct. 1) was not an unbiased look at this problem. We are evidently to think this really doesn’t matter to workers affected by the shutdown and they will like their unplanned vacation! This isn’t what I’ve been hearing at all. .

To run a government by lurching from manufactured crisis to manufactured crisis in an effort to get your way is unacceptable. Tea party Republicans (only a small proportion of the rest of the party) are holding everyone hostage until they get their way. They will never be held accountable because they come from gerrymandered districts. She states this is “an appalling lack of leadership” in Congress. You can’t lead a group that refuses to rationally discuss things and insists on their way or the highway. Perhaps you could ignore them, and that is what we should be doing.

Stephenson dismisses the idea that the “Affordable Care Act is a done deal or the law of the land.” This thinking is what has brought us to this sorry state of affairs — tilting at windmills instead of working for the betterment of the country. The Affordable Care Act is the law. It was passed by Congress and signed by the president . Further, it was approved by the Supreme Court. Barack Obama won the 2012 election with this achievement credited to him, and Gov. Mitt Romney lost while saying he’d repeal it. This shows a majority of people in this country like the idea of affordable health care.